KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia saw a decline on Wednesday morning as investors took profits following the previous day's rally.
At 9.16am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 4.93 points to 1,550.66, down from Tuesday's closing level of 1,555.59.
Loser led gainers 289 to 153, with 278 stocks unchanged.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng expressed confidence in the continued strong performance of the FBM KLCI, despite the possibility of occasional corrections, as it progresses towards reaching the 1,600 level.
Yesterday, the FBM KLCI maintained its strong performance by closing above the 1,550 level.
Thong observed that this resembled a small Chinese New Year (CNY) rally, with the index gaining over 40 points during this period.
"It is also heartening to see that retail presence is improving though actual participation is still low."For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,550-1,560 range," he said.
On the global front, Wall Street ended on a weak note as prevailing high valuations remain as the main stumbling block. "In addition to the widely expected delay in rate cut, traders are wary if US equities have the legs to trend higher.
"As such, the DJI Average lost 64 points while the Nasdaq declined by 145 points as the US 10-year yield eased marginally to 4.27 per cent," he added.
Thong observed that in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index (HSI) initially opened weak but recovered during the afternoon session.
This was in response to Chinese lenders cutting the loan prime rate by 25 basis points, a move aimed at stimulating home purchases, which exceeded initial expectations.